Shredded fibrous stock and method of making same



Patented June 25, 1940 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHREDDEDFIBROUS STOCK AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME corporation of Ohio No Drawing. Application May 28,1936,

Serial No. 82,279

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a prepared fibrous stock reclaimed from waste knitted and woven fabrics and the process of reclaiming it, and particularly pertains to shredded clippings of waste knitted and woven fabrics which have peculiar characteristics which make them particularly suitable for padding and filling in upholstering, cushions, mattresses and the like where matting is desired without the material wedding and knotting into bunches.

Heretofore, this waste material has been reclaimed by some such process or some such machinery as that typified by the Saco Lowell hard waste breaker where to draw out and separate apart the individual fibers from the warp and woof and from the threads or yarns employed in the warp and woof of the woven or knitted fabrics. This results in reducing the waste woven and knitted material to a relatively uniform condition with the fibers of substantially the same size separated apart, so that the resulting mass is substantially homogeneous in character. This treatment involves a long period of time resulting in complete disintegration of the threads and yarns and removing from the material any characteristics of the thread or yarn stock. The threads and yarns have certain characteristics not possessed by the individual fibers in their unspun condition, and ,are particularly advantageous in providing certain qualities which make the stocks especially suitable for certain uses.

It is the aim of the present invention to provide an improved and superior fibrous stock having a character which makes it particularly suitable for padding and filling to give a good cushioning efiect without bunching and wadding into dense masses.

The waste woven and knitted fabrics include all kinds of woollen and cotton goods, colored and uncolored materials, and may be obtained from various sources. Those clippings and cuttings accumulating in tailor shops, cloth factories and the like where the knitted and woven dry goods are fabricated into wearing apparel and other articles of commerce are particularly desirable and inasmuch as they are of high quality, do not need to be laundered, have not been subjected to wear, and have not been soiled by dirt or other materials harmful to the fibers. This, of course, does not exclude those waste and knitted fabrics which may have been used and soiled and might be laundered or otherwise conditioned, but those obtained from pure and unused material are preferred as the material is in reality new although the waste material is combed I this pure and unused material is a. by product or waste from making other materials.

The fibrous stock is produced by subjecting the. waste woven and knitted fabrics in a dry condition to a shredding or fiberizing machine for com- 5 pletely disintegrating the woven or knitted structure but only incompletely disintegrating the yarns and threads so that the ultimate shredded stock will comprise a heterogeneous mass ranging from substantially long threads and yarns of 1. two or three inches to such short material as lint. Allof the stock has undergone a beating action which while not untwisting and unraveling all the threads and yarns has fiuffed and frayed them, resulting in relatively long strands crinkled II and curled, with many frayed projecting fibers extending throughout the lengths of the strands. These long crinkled and frayed strands are interspersed through the mass with the shorter strands and individual fibers to hold all together in a loose no matted structure. The character of the treated stock results from the use of knitted and woven material and the particular shredding operation,

- the shredding operation being one which beats the wastematerlal in conjunction with cutting, as distinct from cutting and combing or cutting alone. I

A suitable shredder or fiberizing machine for carrying out the process is typified by one having a series of arms pivoted at one end to a rotating 0 shaft and adapted to be swung outwardly by centrifugal force as the shaft rotates. This shaft with the swinging arms disposed thereon may be mounted within a casing provided with inlet and outlet openings. There is also mounted as within the chamber adjacent the swinging arms a plurality of bars disposed concentrically to the swinging arms so that they may retain the material to be treated within the path of said arms. The bars are provided with cutting edges which in conjunction with the arms operate to shred and cut the waste supply as it is fed into the machine. The shredder may be run with a supply of waste material fed continuously thereto and discharged therefrom in a shredded condition. The shredding operation may be carried on for any length of time dependent upon the degree to which the material is to be shredded, but should not be prolonged to a point completely disintegrating the threads or yarns. This material is sufliciently 5o shredded when the knitted and woven structure of the knitted and woven fabrics have been broken down, for when this is done the stock will be of the above specified novel character ranging from lint to relatively long threads or yarns.

Not only does this treatment provide fibrous stock of novel character,-but the time for i'abricating same from the waste woven and knitted material is about one tenth oi .the time required for combing and drawing out the fibers on a shredder such as the Saco Lowell hard waste breaker referred to above.

Because oi the fact that the supply of woven and knitted fabrics is obtained from various sources and because the treated stock is to be used for upholstery, mattress filling and the like, the stock may be advantageously sterilized by any suitable sterilizing material applied to the material before it is treated, while it is being treated, or after it has been treated. This may be advantageously done by subjecting the raw material or the fabricated fibrous stock to a purifying gas such as chlorine or the like or the raw material could be subjected to the gas or other sterilizing agent during the shredding operation, or at any point of handling or treating the material.

While the process and product have been described in detail as to the steps carried out, suitable machinery by which the process may be performed, and the characteristics of the resultant fibrous stock, it will be understood that there may be various changes without departing from the spirit of the invention.

.1 claim: v

1. The method of producing fibrous stock from woven waste materials comprising cutting and beating said waste materials to disintegrate the woven structure into incompletely disintegrated strands or threads to form a loosely matted fibrous stock composed of fiufied strands or threads of varying lengths ranging from that which is iatively long to that which is relatively short.

2. The method of producing fibrous stock from woven waste materials comprising feeding a quantity of woven waste clippings to a cutting and heating device, and cutting and beating in a dry condition the waste clippings to disintegrate their woven structure into incompletely disintegrated strands or threads to form a loosely mat- .ed fibrous stock composed of irregular ilufied strands or threads of varying lengths.

' The method of producing fibrous stockfrom woven waste materials comprising feeding a quantity of woven waste clippings to a cutting and beating device, and cutting and beating the waste clippings to disintegrate their woven structure into incompletely disintegrated strands or threads 1 to form a loosely mattedfibrous stock composed of fiun'ed strands or threads of varying lengths and sterilizing the materials.

4. The method of producing fibrous stock from woven waste materials comprising feeding a quantity of woven waste clipping to a shredding device, shredding and beating in a dry condition the waste clippings to disintegrate their woven structure into incompletely disintegrated strands as threads to form a loosely matted fibrous stock composed of irregular fiufled strands or threads of varying lengths and sterilizing the materials.

5. The methodof producing fibrous stock from textile fabric waste materials comprising cutting and beating said waste materials to disintegrate the fabric structure into incompletely disintegrated strands or threads to form a loosely matted fibrous stock composed of fiufied strands or threads of varying lengths ranging from that which is relatively long to that which is relatively short. 4

6. A loosely matted shredded fibrous stock comprising incompletely disintegrated strands or threads derived from woven materials cut and beaten into loosely matted flufied strands or threads of varying lengths ranging from that which is relatively long to that which is relatively short.

7. A loosely matted shredded fibrous stock comprising sterilized incompletely disintegrated strands or threads derived from woven materials cut and beaten into loosely matted fiufled strands or threads of varying lengths ranging from that which is relatively long to that which is relatively short.

8. A loosely matted shredded fibrous stock comprising incompletely disintegrated ,strande or threads derived from textile fabric materials cut and beaten into loosely matted flufied strands or threads of varying lengths ranging from that which is relatively long to that which is relatively short;

BORIS J. PETRICOFF. 

